The Mystery of The GS Ball
by sparrowflyaway
Summary: When Serena and Amy find a mysterious map hidden in an encyclopaedia, all sorts of weird and wonderful things happen!
1. The Find

Another story! I've had this first chapter basically finished for about a month now, so I decided to finish it and post it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, Pokemon or Cadbury. I wish I did, though.

* * *

"Serena? Since when do you spend your school holidays in the Library?" Amy asked, poking her head around a bookshelf after spotting her friend's trademark hairstyle through the shelves. Serena looked very grumpy as she looked along the half-empty shelves of encyclopaedias.

"Since my mum threatened to ban me from sweets unless I get a good grade on my History project. I would have used the internet, but Sammy wrecked the computer somehow, and no-one has any idea how to fix it," Serena said, pulling down an encyclopaedia marked 'P'. Serena carried the book over to Amy's table, which was already covered in the missing half of the encyclopaedias.

"Oh, I see. What topic did you get?" Amy asked.

"Ms H gave me Pompeii. It's not that reading about mouldering old ruins isn't interesting, but I'd rather be playing video games," Serena said, opening her encyclopaedia and flipping through the pages. "Let's see... Plato, Plumbing, Poetry, Pokemon, Poland... Hang on, what was that?" Serena said, flipping back a few pages. "Pokemon? Never heard of them. Let's see, what does it say... 'Pokemon are mythical creatures that supposedly have control over the elements of the planet. Some believe that Pokemon helped in the creation of the planet. It is assumed that Pokemon went extinct, as confirmed sightings have not appeared for over a thousand years. However, there are some who believe that the Pokemon simply went into hiding or underground, as there have been numerous unconfirmed sightings over the past 300 years. It is supposed that animals are descendents of these creatures, as the rough drawings of Pokemon often bear similar structure and appearance to animals such as birds, squirrels, mice and fish. Indeed, many creatures still seem to hold some of the abilities of their supposed predecessors, such as sensitivity to weather changes. Many people, from enthusiasts to scientists, have gone in search of these creatures, and most have returned empty-handed. There was one person, however, who claimed to have found a small cavern in the side of Mt Fuji. The discoverer, Professor Samuel Oak, claimed that the cavern contained not only hundreds of images of Pokemon, but also a large altar covered in an ancient language. However, as Oak's discovery could not be verified, he attempted to return to the cavern. No trace of Oak or his exploration team has been sighted since.' Wow, I wonder what happened to them," Serena said, examining an illustration of a ball that looked about the size of an orange. The ball was red on the top and white on the bottom, and the caption read, 'Artist's illustration of a Pokeball. The pokeball was supposedly used to capture Pokemon'.

"Shouldn't you be researching Pompeii?" Amy asked.

"Oh, who cares about some city that got destroyed by a volcano. This is actually interesting!" Serena said, going back to the shelf of encyclopaedias and pulling down an atlas and an encyclopaedia marked 'O'. She dumped both books onto the table and opened the encyclopaedia. Flipping through, she found a small section on Professor Oak, but no clue as to what happened to him or his team, or how to find the cavern. Serena frowned and turned to the index at the back of the encyclopaedia, hoping to find a page on Oak's team. She ran her finger down the list, unable to find anything. She sighed and absently stroked the back page, wondering what to do next. As she stroked, her sensitive fingers picked up on a raised area on the inside of the back cover. Serena flipped the page over to find an image lightly embossed on the inside cover. Serena felt a tingle of excitement run down her spine as she realised that the symbol was a Pokeball.

"Amy, come and have a look at this. Look, it's a Pokeball, just like the one in that picture in the other book," Serena said, pointing at the picture.

"Wow, what a coincidence," Amy said vaguely, not looking up from her book. Serena continued to examine the back cover, and noticed that one of the edges seemed to have been pried loose and then stuck back down.

"Hey, is it just me, or does it look like something's been hidden in here?" Serena asked. Amy looked up at this, and Serena showed her the cover.

"Hey, yeah, it does look like it's been tampered with. Pass it here," Amy said. Serena handed over the book, and Amy placed it on her lap under the table. She glanced around for a moment, before pulling out a small pocket knife and carefully lifting the edge. She reached in carefully and pulled out a yellowing piece of paper, which she passed to Serena.

"Amy, you didn't!" Serena gasped. Amy pressed her finger to her lips and took a small tube of superglue from her pencilcase, then carefully glued the cover back together again.

"The way I see it, that page probably wasn't stuck down very carefully, so I was simply fixing it," Amy said, closing the book and passing it back to Serena. Serena slipped the yellowing paper into her bag and helped Amy sort out which books they were going to borrow(Serena borrowed both of the encyclopaedias, while Amy borrowed what looked to Serena to be three dozen different books), then the two hurried out of the library. Serena pulled back her sleeve and turned on her communicator, calling her four friends.

"Guys, we've got a mystery on our hands. Amy and I are heading over to the Temple. Meet us there, OK?" she said.

"OK, Serena."

"Gotcha."

"Ooh, a mystery! Sounds exciting! I'm on my way." Serena and Amy laughed at Mina's answer, then set off towards the Cherry Hill Temple.

* * *

"Hi, guys! Thanks for coming, this sounds really exciting!" Serena said, running over to where Raye, Mina and Lita were waiting for them.

"Hey, you're here! Finally! So what's the mystery about?" Mina asked jumping to her feet. Serena carefully took the paper from her bag and passed it to Raye.

"Amy and I found this hidden in an encyclopaedia at the Library," Serena explained.

"You were at the Library? Intentionally?" Raye asked incredulously. Serena stuck her tongue out at Raye. Raye copied her friend and unfolded the paper to reveal a map of Mt Fuji.

"Whoa, what's this?" Serena wondered, looking at the faded writing.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Amy said, bending over the page to read the faded writing. "'The Unown Dungeon was too precious to leave open, so I have sealed it until...' umm... 'I have need of opening it again.' Wow, this is really faded, I can't read much more of it. That there looks like it says 'signed Professor Samuel Oak'. That's the guy who went missing!"

"Hey! It's a treasure map! See? X marks the spot!" Mina exclaimed, pointing at a faded black X on the side of the mountain.

"Oh, wow! Let's go check it out!" Serena exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Serena, sit down. Do you have any idea how much money and equipment we would need for an expedition like this?" Raye asked.

"Oh, Raye, don't be silly. We can just transform and go there!" Serena said excitedly.

"I'm in," Lita said. Serena and Mina cheered and hugged Lita.

"I dunno... I've got a lot of studying to do..."

"Oh, snore, Amy! You can't spend the entire holidays studying!" Serena said, turning to her blue-haired friend.

"Yeah! Let loose a little!" Mina said, smiling.

"You're probably right. Mum did suggest that I tone down the studying a little..." Amy said.

"I guess it would be OK for us to go, seeing as we've sorted Chaos out," Raye said thoughtfully.

"That's settled, then! We're going to explore Mt Fuji and see if we can work out what happened to Professor Oak and his exploration team!" Serena said, doing a victory dance with Mina. Raye, Amy and Lita sweat-dropped. All of a sudden, Serena froze and asked,

"Can Darien come with us?"

"I don't see why not," Raye said, picking up the map to examine it more closely. It was then that Amy noticed more writing on the back.

"Hey, Raye, pass me the map for second," Amy said. Raye did, and Amy carefully laid it upside down, making it possible for all five of them to read: "The language that is carved into the altar is a very ancient one, but I was able to translate a little of it. It speaks of the Moon, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. What significance this has, I cannot tell, but it is clearly a very significant discovery."

"Hey, that's all five of us plus Darien. Guys... Is it just me or does this seem like more than a coincidence?" Amy asked. The others frowned.

"It definitely seems to be about us..." Raye murmured thoughtfully.

"I think we probably should go check it out," Lita said. The others nodded in agreement.

"OK, we need to plan this out carefully before we leave," Raye said. "We'll definitely need Darien if the language really does mention Earth. And knowing Luna and Artemis, they'll want to come with us, and we may need their advice if we come across a new enemy. Serena, Mina, you two get in touch with those three and explain what's going on. Amy, have a good look in the library and on the internet and find out everything you can about Professor Oak and the cavern and this map. Lita, I'll help you take care of the food. We'll meet back here in 5 hours. And all of you, we may need our transformation items, so don't forget them. Especially you, Serena." Serena poked her tongue out at Raye before turning and running towards the temple steps.

"Who made you leader?" she called playfully over her shoulder.

"Wait for me, Serena! ...Oh, darn. I may as well go get Luna and Artemis, since she'll probably only go get Darien. See you in five hours, guys," Mina said, before running after Serena. Amy gently folded the map and put it into her bag, then headed towards the library once more. Raye and Lita got up and followed the other three girls down the steps.

* * *

"Ooh, this is so exciting! I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Serena said excitedly, bouncing up and down beside Darien.

"I know you're excited, Sere, but you need to save some of that energy for the trip," Darien said, his midnight-blue eyes twinkling.

"What's this I hear about a trip?" a voice said. Serena and Darien looked up to see Luna and Artemis walking up the Temple steps with Mina following behind them.

"Amy and I found a map hidden in one of the encyclopaedias in the Library, and it mentioned all of our planets. Not Amara, Michelle, Trista or Hotaru's, but everyone else's, including Earth and the Moon," Serena explained.

"Raye thought it would be wise to check it out," Mina said.

"Good idea. We're coming too," Luna said. Serena nodded.

"We figured you would," she said.

"Where's everyone else?" Artemis asked.

"Lita and Raye are dealing with food for the trip, and Amy's doing more research on Professor Oak and the cavern," Mina said. Just then, Raye and Lita appeared, carrying a huge picnic basket between them.

"Are we gonna have to lug that all the way up Mt Fuji?" Serena asked.

"Don't be silly, Serena. This was the only thing we could find that was big enough to fit all six backpacks into," Lita said, opening the picnic basket and taking out the pink backpack. Serena took it and opened it eagerly, finding all sorts of her favourite foods inside.

"We packed each backpack according to what you like, so everyone's happy on that, at least. I wanted to fill your backpack with salad, but Lita wouldn't let me," Raye said, pulling out two backpacks: an orange and a black. She passed these to Mina and Darien.

"Eeew, rabbit food! You're so mean, Raye! Thanks for saving me, Lita," Serena said, doing the backpack up again. Lita nodded and passed Raye her red backpack.

"Hi guys! Are we ready?" Amy called, walking up the steps with a thick clipboard in her hands.

"I think so. What'd you find?" Serena asked. Amy took the blue backpack that Lita handed to her and placed it at her feet before opening the clipboard.

"The exploration team that went missing consisted of Professor Oak and five teenagers - four boys, one girl - who were interested in seeing the cave. Those five were called Ash Ketchum, Tracey Sketchit, Gary Oak, Misty and Brock. I wasn't able to find out last names for the last two, and Gary Oak is actually Professor Oak's grandson. Apparently those five were the only ones who actually believed Professor Oak," Amy said, pulling out photocopied pictures of the five missing people. The six passed the photos around, looking at Professor Oak's greying hair, Ash's jet-black hair hidden beneath a red-and-white baseball cap, Brock's brown hair and tan skin, Misty's flame-orange hair tied in a side ponytail, Tracey's dark hair poking up over a red headband and Gary's spiky brown hair.

"I also found out that there was another teenage girl called May and her little brother Max who went missing looking for the team. Those two were apparently friends with Ash and Brock, and that's why they decided to go looking for them." The group this time looked at a picture of a tall brunette wearing a red bandana, her arm around a young boy with dark hair and glasses.

"In one of the books about Professor Oak's research, it was suggested that there was a map to the cavern, but it said that no map had ever been found, so this was only a rumour. But, as we very well know, the map does exist, and we're going to follow it to the cavern and see what we can find," Amy concluded, taking the pictures and putting them back into her clipboard, then placing the clipboard in her backpack.

"Well, shall we get going then?" Lita asked, taking the green backpack from the basket and putting it on. The girls nodded and put their backpacks on, then took out their transformation items.

"Moon Eternal Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!" Pink, blue, red, green and orange lights flashed, feathers flew, and the five girls transformed into their Sailor Scout forms. Darien swung his backpack onto his back and smiled, then watched as the five Scouts held hands in a circle around him and the two cats. They closed their eyes, and each girl began to glow their respective Sailor Scout colour.

"Sailor Teleport!" The five girls chorused, before the eight of them vanished.

* * *

"Wow, you wouldn't think it was this hot on a mountain, would you," Sailor Moon moaned, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Well, according to the map, the cavern should be just up there," Mercury said, looking up from the faded map and pointing up at an outcrop on the side of the mountain, roughly three storeys above their heads.

"Oh, great. How are we supposed to get up there?" Venus asked.

"How about we jump?" Darien asked, before picking up Luna and Artemis and jumping up to the place that Mercury had pointed to. The others smiled and jumped up next to him, and found themselves standing in front of a large boulder with writing carved into it.

"'I have sealed this cavern to protect its secrets. Only those strong enough will be able to uncover the mysteries within.' Wow, sounds like some pretty big mysteries to me," Jupiter remarked.

"Let's move it together," Darien said, before transforming into Tuxedo Mask with a flash. The six superheroes gathered on one side of the boulder and pushed, and the boulder slowly rolled to one side, revealing a dark cavern behind it. Four of the scouts, along with Tuxedo Mask stepped back to examine their achievements, but Sailor Moon charged straight into the cavern without waiting for the others.

"Serena, wait up!" Venus called. Sailor Moon skidded to a stop and ran back to the others.

"What? Why are you all waiting out here? Let's explore!" she said.

"Serena, who knows what sort of booby traps could be set up in there. You can't just go charging in, it could be dangerous!" Mercury said.

"Yeah, you Meatball Head! You could fall down a trap door and then we'd have to come and pull you out!" Mars said, her hands on her hips. Sailor Moon stuck her tongue out at Mars, but didn't run back in again. The six people and the two cats walked slowly into the cavern, where they quickly lost all light from the outside.

"Guess we could use a light here, huh?" Mars' voice said, before the passage was lit up by a flame that danced on the palm of Mars' gloved hand. Using this light, the group followed the passage deep into the mountain, the air getting hotter and thicker the further they went. Finally, they emerged in a small dark cavern. Mars held her flame up and noticed several torches on the walls, which she walked around and lit. As the light inside the cavern increased, they could see various images of strange creatures, along with an ancient, and strangely familiar, language written on the walls and on the altar in the centre of the room.

"Oh my!" Luna gasped, staring at the markings.

"What's the matter, Luna?" Jupiter asked.

"Do you realise what this language is?" Luna whispered.

"Well, ummm... I'm stumped. What is it, Luna?" Sailor Moon asked.

"It's Lunarian! It's what we all spoke back in the Silver Millennium!" Artemis said, staring up at the walls in amazement.

"What?" the others exclaimed.

"I'd heard a rumour that there was someone down on Earth who found a secret in a mountain, but I didn't think it actually existed. But here's the proof! It was all true!" Luna said.

"So what's it say, Luna?" Mercury said, walking up to the wall and rubbing her finger over one of the Mercury symbols carved there.

"'The other world shall open when,

The six foretold each hold their pen.' It's a poem. But this doesn't make any sense. 'The other world'?" Luna said.

"Well, I would think that by 'pen', it's meaning our transformation pens," Mars said.

"You could be right there, Raye, but Darien doesn't have a transformation pen," Sailor Moon said, looking sadly at her love. Tuxedo Mask smiled and detransformed, then pulled out a perfect red rose.

"I suppose you could call this my transformation pen, seeing as how I have to hold it to transform into Tuxedo Mask," he said.

"Hey, guys? Come have a look at this," Venus called from where she was bent over the altar, examining a beautiful ball about the size of an orange. The ball's smooth surface was divided in half, with the top half being gold and the bottom half being silver. The black that divided the two halves had what appeared to be a silver button set into it, and above the button, in (strangely enough) English, were the letters 'GS'.

"Hey, that looks similar to a picture in one of the encyclopaedias, except it was red and white instead of gold and silver. The caption said that it's called a Pokeball," Serena said

"It's so pretty!" Venus said, reaching out and attempting to pick up the Pokeball. After a few tugs, she realised that it was stuck in place, and stepped back to examine the rest of the altar. She quickly discovered a circular indent, four identical dome-shaped indents in the altar, each with a deep hole in the centre, and a single indent similar to the four, but smaller and more layered, and with a smaller hole. Venus brushed dust from around one of the four to discover the number 4 – Jupiter's symbol. She blew the dust away from the other five holes to find that each one had one of the Scout's symbols beside it. The smaller layered hole had a circle with a cross inside engraved beside it - the symbol of Earth.

"This has all of our symbols, you guys!" Venus exclaimed. The others crowded around to examine the altar.

"See? There's the symbol for Venus. I bet my transformation pen will fit in there," Venus said, before detransforming and holding up her orange Crystal Change Rod. She gently lowered the Rod into the hole with the Venus symbol beside it, noticing how nicely the Rod fitted.

"Go on, guys, put yours in too," Mina said. The others nodded and detransformed, then placed their transformation items into the slots on the altar. Darien slid his rose gently into the smallest slot, then stepped back. The six items began to glow softly, and then the Pokeball on top of the altar opened, releasing six blindingly-white globes of light. The lights flew around the room and then merged with the six items, changing them into Pokeballs similar to the one that the globes of light had come from. Each Pokeball was a different colour: Serena's had a hot pink top and a pale pink bottom; Amy's was fluorescent blue on top and light blue on the bottom; Raye's was red on top and orange on the bottom; Lita's was green on top and yellow on the bottom; Mina's was orange on top and gold on the bottom; and Darien's was black on top and white on the bottom. They each picked up their new items, and as they did so, the altar slid sideways, revealing a set of stairs beneath it. Luna and Artemis led the group down, with Amy bringing up the rear. Amy stopped after a few steps, then ran back and picked up the gold-and-silver Pokeball, which had disconnected from the altar. She slipped it into her backpack, then ran back down the steps after the others. The group descended into darkness again, so Raye created another flame to light their way. After what seemed like hours, the stairs ended and they entered a flat tunnel. They turned a corner and finally saw a spot of light. The group soon emerged into a peaceful clearing lit by a beautiful sunset, and they looked around in wonder at the emerald-green trees and the crystal-clear waterfall.

"Whoa, where are we?" Serena asked.

"I'm not sure, but we sure aren't in Japan," Mina said.

"Yes, and who knows what we'll find here," Luna murmured.


	2. The Professor

**Sparrowflyaway: Chapter 2! Yay!**

**Raye: Why are you getting so excited?**

**Serena: Oh, come on Raye, I'm excited too!**

**Mina: Yeah, me too! I wanna know about all these 'weird and wonderful things' that are supposed to happen to us.**

**Sparrowflyaway: You'll just have to wait and see, won't you, girls.**

**Serena: You're mean!**

**Sparrowflyaway: No, I'm just giving you guys a surprise. **

**Serena: Can you give us a hint?**

**Sparrowflyaway: Nope.**

**Serena: Awwww...**

**Sparrowflyaway: Serena, trust me, you'll like it. Anyway, I-**

**Mina: And what's with changing our transformation items? Now we won't be able to transform into our scout forms!**

**Sparrowflyaway: That's also a surprise, Mina. Just wait and you'll see. Anyway, as I was saying, I have gotten a few reviews since I posted the first chapter, so I would like to say thanks to the following people for taking the time to give me feedback: PEJP Bengtzone, midniteryder, Batthan, and LightLoveLife. Now, Serena, would you like to say the disclaimer?**

**Serena: Ooh, really? You want me to do it?**

**Sparrowflyaway: Yup. Go for it.**

**Serena: OK! Sparrowflyaway doesn't own Sailor Moon or Pokemon. ...Do you?**

**Sparrowflyaway: No, I don't.**

**Serena: I didn't think so. **

**Sparrowflyaway: *sigh* Let's get on with the chapter, shall we?**

**Serena & Mina: Finally!**

* * *

"This place is incredible! Any ideas where we are, guys?" Serena asked.

"I don't know," Amy admitted.

"Wow! That's even more amazing, Amy! You not knowing something!" Serena exclaimed, turning and grinning at her blue-haired friend. Amy blushed.

"Well, it's unlikely that anyone besides Professor Oak's team has any idea that this place is actually here. Well, except for us, of course. Everyone else probably thinks it's just a myth," Amy said.

"You have a point there, Amy," Darien said.

"Oh, wow, they're weird!" Mina exclaimed. Everyone turned to find her staring into the lake at the foot of the waterfall.

"What's weird, Mina?" Artemis asked. Mina looked up at them.

"These fish! They look just like love hearts!" she said, pointing into the water. The others walked over and stared down at the pink love-heart-shaped fish.

"Wow, you're right! They are weird," Lita said.

"Do you reckon they're pokemon?" Serena asked.

"Maybe," Mina said.

"I wonder what other kinds there are," Amy said, looking around.

"Whoa! Look at the size of that thing!" Mina exclaimed, pointing over to the other side of the waterfall, where a huge orange turtle shell was lying on the bank. The group walked over to it, wondering what kind of turtle they would find inside. They didn't have to wonder for long, as the shell shook as they approached, and out popped a blue head, arms, legs and a short tail. The turtle Pokemon looked at them and growled, two large shiny cannons emerging from it's shell.

"Uh oh, I think we disturbed it's beauty sleep," Serena said nervously.

"Yeah. This guy looks as grumpy about waking up as you do about the thought of homework," Raye said.

The pokemon suddenly stopped growling and sniffed at them, it's eyes widening in something like surprise.

"Blastoise," the pokemon said, it's tone also suggesting surprise.

"'Blastoise?' That's not what normal turtles say," Mina said. Amy gasped.

"Oh, of course!"

"What?" the others chorused.

"There was a piece in one of the books that I found. It said that most Pokemon are only capable of saying their own name," Amy said.

"So... This guy is called Blastoise?" Mina asked.

"Seems that way," Raye said.

"Blastoise!" the pokemon shouted excitedly, pointing it's cannons up and shooting two large jets of water high into the sky. Within seconds, many small blue turtle pokemon appeared in the lake and swam to the edge, looking curious as to why there were humans there.

"Squirtle! Squirtle squirtle squirt?" one of the round-headed turtle pokemon said.

"Wartortle, tortle tortle wartortle?" a dark-blue turtle with wing-shaped ears asked.

"Blastoise," the huge pokemon said. The other turtles became very excited at what Blastoise had said, and immediately picked up the six humans and two cats and began marching through the forest with Blastoise leading the way.

"Ummm... Blastoise?" Serena asked timidly. Blastoise turned and looked at Serena, it's head tilting to one side in curiosity. "Where exactly are you taking us?" Serena asked.

"Blastoise, blast blast blastoise," Blastoise replied.

"Well that was a stupid question, Serena. How is asking Blastoise a question going to help us if all it can say is it's name?" Raye asked, the small turtle pokemon carrying her marching just behind the ones carrying Serena.

"Oh, right. I didn't think of that," Serena said sheepishly.

"Hey, I wonder what these little guys are called," Lita said, looking around at the small turtle pokemon.

"Well, one of those guys," Amy said, pointing at one of the pale-blue, round-headed turtle pokemon, "was saying 'Squirtle' earlier, so I'd say it's a Squirtle. And one of those," she continued pointing at one of the dark-blue turtles with wing-shaped ears, "was saying 'Wartortle', so that'd be a Wartortle."

"Squirtle!" one of the Squirtle said, smiling at Amy.

"Wartortle," a Wartortle agreed, nodding. Just then, the group came to another clearing, where a large hut with an enormous doorway was erected. As the group approached, a tall grey-haired man emerged from the hut, looking rather annoyed.

"What is it this time, Blastoise? I'm tired of that signal of yours going of twenty times a day, and-" the man stopped short when he saw what the turtle pokemon has brought with them.

"Hey, you're-!" Serena gasped, recognising the man.

"Professor Oak," Amy whispered. Oak looked startled that the group knew who he was.

"Do I know you?" he asked. The turtle pokemon put their prisoners down and stepped back, looking eager.

"Not personally, sir. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Serena Tsukino, and these are my friends Amy Mizuno, Raye Hino, Lita Kino, Mina Aino and Darien Chiba," Serena said, each of her friends waving as Serena introduced them. Luna cleared her throat, and Serena giggled. "And we mustn't forget about my cat, Luna, and Mina's cat, Artemis."

"Hello," Luna smiled, nodding.

"Hi there," Artemis said. Oak looked surprised to hear the cats talk, but nodded in acknowledgement.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said.

"And you, Professor. I must say this is a very interesting quest your map led us on," Luna said.

"You found the map?" Oak gasped.

"Well, Serena was the one who found it," Amy said.

"Yeah, and it led us to the cave that you found," Serena added.

"You opened the cave? Oh my word. Then you also found..."

"We found the altar, yes, and this," Amy said, taking the gold-and-silver pokeball from her backpack. Oak gasped and pushed the ball back into Amy's backpack, glancing around.

"You'd better come inside," he said, before ushering everyone inside, including Blastoise and all the Squirtle and Wartortle. Once inside, Oak slid a leafy screen across the hut's entrance and invited the humans and cats to sit down at the table. Blastoise and his friends were already settling themselves around the room, apparently having been in the hut many times before.

"May I see the ball, please?" Oak asked. Amy took it out and passed it to him. Oak examined it, awestruck, then looked up at the others.

"I must ask you, how did you come to getting this? It was secured onto the altar long ago, even before I found the cavern," Oak said, sitting down opposite his visitors.

"Well, you see, sir, we had items that fit into the holes on the altar, and once we'd placed all of our items on it, the ball opened up," Serena began.

"Wait a moment. Did you say that the ball opened?" Oak gasped.

"Yes sir. Is that significant?" Raye asked.

"I should say so. This ball, what we call the GS Ball, would only open to the Six Ancient Rulers of the Inner Planets, also known as the Princesses of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, and the Prince of Earth," Oak said tersely. The group gasped.

"How do you know about that?" Luna asked.

"I said it was a pleasure to meet you, but now it is more of an honour. In answer to your question, all of the pokemon here have known about you for centuries. It was just a matter of learning to understand what they were saying," Oak said.

"OK... but what are we supposed to do with these?" Mina asked, pulling out her orange-and-gold Pokeball. Oak gasped and took the ball gently, examining it in amazement.

"This... Do you all have one?" Oak asked. The other five nodded. "I do know what these balls are for, but I am forbidden to tell you. All I can tell you is that this ball, along with all of the others, will not open until you find the key that unlocks it."

"What exactly does this key look like?" Raye asked.

"Each ball has a separate key to open it, and only the legend can tell you what the keys look like and how to activate them," Oak explained.

"What legend? What does it say?" Luna asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't know. The legend was hidden deep in Deoxys Mountain, and it is said that only those worthy will be able to journey to the centre of the Mountain to discover the legend and its secrets," Oak said gravely.

"That doesn't sound too hard. I mean, after all, we've defeated some of the universe's biggest threats to life. We should be fine," Serena said.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The guardian of the Mountain, Deoxys, is a very strict guardian, and lately it has become rather violent towards anyone who goes near it's home," Professor Oak said.

"So how are we supposed to get in there?" Lita asked.

"Blastoise! Blast blastoise!" Blastoise exclaimed.

"You're right, Blastoise. Good idea. We should call them right away," Oak said, pulling out a red-and-white Pokeball.

"You understood that?" Mina asked, amazed.

"Of course. To understand what a pokemon says, you need to have a connection with them," Oak said, pressing the button on the pokeball. The ball opened, and out popped a large brown bird Pokemon. "Pidgeotto, go and get Charizard and Venusaur and tell them to come here immediately. It's an emergency," Oak told the bird.

"Pidgeotto!" the bird pokemon cried, before flying through the screen covering the door and vanishing.

"Who are Charizard and Venusaur?" Artemis asked.

"Two wild pokemon that I have befriended. Blastoise here is another of the pokemon that I have befriended instead of capturing," Oak explained.

"Blastoise," the turtle pokemon smiled.

"How'd you befriend it?" Serena asked.

"Blastoise had a Jigglypuff stuck in one of its cannons, and it kept putting Blastoise and all of the Squirtle and Wartortle to sleep. I removed the Jigglypuff, and that's how we became friends," Professor Oak said. Noticing the group's puzzled looks, Professor Oak pulled out a small device and pressed a few buttons, then placed the device on the table. A holographic 3D image of a round pink pokemon appeared. Then the group jumped as the device began to talk.

"_Jigglypuff, the balloon pokemon. This pokemon sings a soothing melody that puts all who hear it to sleep,_" the device said.

"This is called a Pokedex. I designed it myself," Oak said proudly.

"That's awesome. What about the other two pokemon? Charizard and Venusaur?"

"Both wanted to become stronger, as they're very competitive. I helped them both evolve from Charmeleon and Ivysaur into their present forms," Oak smiled.

"That's cool. So what are they coming here for?" Lita asked.

"Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur are going to go with you to the centre of the Mountain to discover the legend. They will do their best to protect you and guide you to the centre chamber," Professor Oak said. Just then, two loud roars reached their ears, and the group went outside to find a large orange dragon-type pokemon breathing a large jet of flame at an equally large green dinosaur-type pokemon with a large pink flower on its back. The dinosaur-type pokemon was blocking, or perhaps attempting to overpower the flame with a beam of yellow-green energy.

"Charizard! Venusaur! Enough! Now is not the time for your disagreements, we have much to do," Oak said. The two battling pokemon ignored Oak and continued fighting. Blastoise roared and aimed its cannons at the two fighters, the twin jets of water striking them and knocking them backwards. The two struggled to their feet, looking angry.

"Blast blast blastoise, blastoise," Blastoise said, pointing at the humans. Charizard and Venusaur looked surprised and stared at the humans, their argument apparently forgotten.

"Char?"

"Saur?"

"Yes, my friends. These are the humans that you have spoken of for so long, and they need your help. They need you to help them reach the centre of Deoxys Mountain," Professor Oak said. Charizard and Venusaur nodded slowly and then bowed to the humans, whose eyes widened in shock. They glanced over at Blastoise, who was also bowing to them.

"That's their way of telling you that they are more than willing to escort you to the legend. They realise that you do not understand what they say, so they're showing you in the only way they can," Oak said, smiling. Just then, a howl echoed out of the forest, and a pack of grey dog-type pokemon emerged, growling and baring sharp white teeth.

"Poochyena and Mightyena. They've been terrorizing the Squirtle and Wartortle here for weeks," Professor Oak said, watching as more and more of the pokemon emerged from the trees.

"This doesn't look good," Serena said nervously.

* * *

**Mina: You're right, Serena, this _doesn't_ look good.**

**Serena: Why'd you leave the story there? With us about to be Mightyena Chow?**

**Raye: I highly doubt that we'll end up getting eaten, Serena.**

**Sparrowflyaway: Do you really think I'm that mean, Serena?**

**Raye: I wouldn't put it past you...**

**Sparrowflyaway: *sigh* How about you just wait until the next chapter.**

**Serena: Wait a second, I wanna know what this legend is about!**

**Sparrowflyaway: You'll have to wait for that too, Serena. Just be patient, things will clear up in time.**

**Serena: Oh, alright. But all this is rather exciting, isn't it!**

**Luna: Yes, if you like getting eaten.**

**Sparrowflyaway: *groan...***


	3. The Legend

**Serena: Hooray! Chapter 3!**

**Mina: Now we can find out what happens to us!**

**Serena: Yeah, I hope we don't get eaten...**

**Sparrowflyaway: Serena, I- Oh, forget it. I've said it a thousand times, and you still don't believe me. So how about I just show you instead.**

**Mina: Good idea!**

**Amy: Doesn't someone need to do the disclaimer first?**

**Sparrowflyaway: You're right, Amy. Would you like to do it?**

**Mina: Hey! I wanna do it!**

**Serena: Me too! Me too!**

**Sparrowflyaway: Serena, you've already had a turn at doing the disclaimer. Mina, wait your turn.**

**Mina: I was the original Sailor Scout, so I should get to do one before the others!**

**Sparrowflyaway: But you were the last one to join the group, Mina, so you should be the last.**

**Mina: But I'm also the second-in-command to Serena, and the leader of the four guardians of the Princess!**

**Sparrowflyaway: Yes, and you're also very impatient. Just wait your turn.**

**Mina: Awww...**

**Sparrowflyaway: Fire away, Amy.**

**Amy: Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon or Pokemon.**

**Sparrowflyaway: Thank you.**

**Mina: I'm doing it next time!**

**Sparrowflyaway: *groan...***

* * *

"What do we do? I don't know if we can transform anymore," Mina said nervously.

"Don't worry, Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur will take care of them," Oak said. The group looked at the three large pokemon, who were growling at the intruders. One of the bigger dog-type pokemon howled, and the pack charged at the humans and their friends.

"Charizard! Flamethrower!" Oak ordered. Instantly, the dragon-type pokemon flapped its wings and took flight, flying low over the pack and unleashing a huge ball of fire. "Blastoise! Venusaur! Double attack of Solarbeam and Hydro Pump!" Venusaur fired another of its yellow-green energy beams at the pokemon, and Blastoise aimed its water jets at the energy beam, creating a vicious attack that threw many of the Poochyena and Mightyena back into the trees. The remainder of the pack did not retreat, however, so Charizard opened its mouth to reveal a glowing yellow-white ball of energy. This ball grew larger until it turned into a beam of energy that swept across the remainder of the pack, knocking them out.

"Well done, Charizard, that was an excellent Hyper Beam. Well done all three of you," Oak said, smiling. Venusaur walked over to one of the bigger pokemon and nudged it with its big green foot, rousing it. The weakened pokemon looked up at Venusaur, then yelped and ran back into the forest. The yelp roused the remainder of the Poochyena and Mightyena, who also ran, yelping. Charizard roared triumphantly and landed with a thud, shaking several Pidgeotto from the trees.

"Come on, you'd better leave. There'll be reinforcements arriving soon," Oak said, before turning and hurrying inside his hut, where he pulled a specially disguised piece of bamboo out of the wall. Oak tipped it upside down into his hand, and out fell a small round rock with a smaller round indent in it. He slotted the bamboo back into the wall, took an extra pokedex from a drawer and rejoined the others.

"Here, this will help you to identify any pokemon you meet," Oak said, handing the Pokedex to Amy. He smiled at Serena, then held out the rock. "This was given to me by Deoxys before it got violent. I feel that this has significance to the legend, but I'm not sure what that significance is. Serena, I think you should take it."

"That hole looks like it's meant to have something in it," Serena said, taking the rock and examining the hole, then slipping it into a side pocket of her backpack.

"I believe Deoxys may hold the answer to solving that mystery. Now go, and hurry," Oak said, glancing around in case the pokemon reappeared.

"What about you, Professor?" Mina asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. My pokemon can protect me. Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, take care of them," Oak said.

"Char."

"Blast."

"Saur."

"Thank you, my friends. Now go, and hurry," Oak said.

"Goodbye, Professor, and thanks for everything," Serena said, before following Blastoise and Charizard into the trees with the others behind her.

* * *

"This world sure is beautiful," Serena said, looking at all the trees and flowers.

"Beautiful, but dangerous," Luna said, glancing around.

"Char," Charizard said, sniffing the air and sticking one wing out to stop the group.

"What is it, Charizard?" Serena asked. As if in answer, a loud growl echoed out of the bushes ahead of them. The group crept forward to find several of the larger pokemon of the pack growling at something that they had backed up against a large rock. Amy pulled out the Pokedex.

"_Mightyena, the Bite Pokemon. These pokemon prefer to travel in packs, and are fiercely protective of their friends,_" the pokedex said. The pack of Mightyena turned, spotted the three large pokemon and then ran, yelping, leaving their captive behind. The humans gasped when they saw what the Mightyena had been gathered around. There, under a fern frond, was a pokemon that looked like one of the smaller pokemon in the pack, with one big difference: this one had golden fur instead of grey.

"_Poochyena, the Bite Pokemon. This pokemon is very loyal, but can also be stubborn. Its keen sense of smell enables it to easily track its prey,_" the Pokedex said, showing a holographic image of one of the grey Poochyena. The gold Poochyena in front of them pricked its ears up when it spotted the humans, and it jumped up and began sniffing them curiously.

"Char," Charizard warned, but the Poochyena simply barked at it and then went and stood next to Venusaur at the back of the group. Charizard and Blastoise looked at the Poochyena, then back at each other.

"Char?"

"Blastoise," Blastoise replied, shrugging.

"What's going on?" Mina asked.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like the Poochyena wants to come with us," Lita said. The Poochyena gave a happy yap and nodded.

"OK, then. Let's go," Serena said happily.

"Are you sure about this, Serena? I mean, we don't know that we can trust this pokemon," Luna said.

"True, but we don't know for certain that Professor Oak and these three are on our side either, but we're just gonna have to trust them, aren't we," Serena replied.

"She has a point, Luna," Raye said. Serena gave Raye a sunny smile.

"Thanks, Raye!"

"No problem, Meatball Head," Raye said, grinning back and sticking her tongue out. Serena stuck her tongue out in return, then followed Charizard and Blastoise through the jungle, with the others right behind.

* * *

"Whoa, what a huge mountain!" Serena exclaimed, staring up at the peak that was looming ahead.

"Is that Deoxys Mountain, do you think?" Amy asked.

"Looks like it," Darien said.

"Saur!" Venusaur said, nodding.

"Hey, look, there's a cave! That must be the entrance!" Mina said, pointing at a gaping black entrance nearby. The group walked over to it and peered cautiously inside, unable to see anything beyond the darkness that began a few feet into the cave.

"Good thing we've got Charizard here, since I can't transform anymore, we wouldn't be able to see anything without him and his tail," Raye said.

"Well, we're not going to find anything just by sitting here. It's probably more likely something will find us," Darien said.

"Yeah, and I doubt it'll be friendly," Serena added.

"Well, let's get in there and find Deoxys, then. Charizard, you'd better lead the way, since we won't be able to see without you," Luna said.

"Char," Charizard replied, before leading the group into the cave. After leading the others down a long and winding tunnel, Charizard suddenly stopped, his tail illuminating a square room only slightly taller than the tunnel.

"Is this it? I thought it'd be harder to get through this mountain," Serena said, looking around.

"Char..." Charizard murmured, looking confused.

"Isn't Deoxys supposed to be here somewhere?" Mina asked.

"Yeah... hey, what's that Poochyena doing?" Artemis asked. The others looked down at Poochyena, who was sniffing carefully at the wall to their right. It looked up at the group, then stepped forward through the wall.

"Hey-! There must be a secret passage there," Amy said, stepping forward and putting her hand carefully through the wall, then pulling it back out. "It seems OK, let's keep moving." The others nodded and followed Charizard through the wall, where they found Poochyena waiting for them. The group kept walking, and soon came to a large room with six different passages branching off it.

"Man, this place is a maze!" Lita said, looking around. Charizard suddenly growled and spread his wings, halting the others.

"What is it, Charizard?" Mina asked.

"Hey, what's that?" Raye asked as something orange darted out from one of the passages and then vanished down another.

"_Deoxys, the DNA Pokemon. This pokemon has many forms, and is capable of amplifying it's stats to suit its needs,_" the pokedex said, displaying an image of an orange-and-blue creature with arms resembling double helixes.

"That was Deoxys? It's so fast!" Luna gasped.

"Maybe it's in a form that enhances its speed most of all," Darien said.

"Well, it left us alone, maybe it's afraid of us," Serena said nervously.

"Or so unconcerned about us that we're not worth attacking," Raye said darkly.

"Way to stay positive, Raye," Serena said sarcastically. Just then a loud bark made them all turn to see Poochyena staring at them from the entrance to the second path on the left.

"Well, he seems to know where he's going. Charizard, after you," Serena said.

"Char," Charizard replied, before leading the group after Poochyena. After following the passage for a few minutes, the group emerged in yet another room, this one the size of a large stadium.

"OK... where do you think we go from here?" Artemis asked, looking around, unable to see a passage besides the one they had just emerged from. The group stepped further into the room, which was suddenly illuminated by dozens of torches.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Lita said, looking around. Suddenly, Deoxys darted out of the passage and stopped in front of them, barring their way. Its streamlined form shimmered and changed into a sleek, battle-ready one, and it glared angrily at the group, who noticed that it was orange and black instead of orange and blue, like the Pokedex's picture.

"It looks mad, you guys," Mina said nervously.

"Yeah, no kidding," Raye said.

"Char, Char," Charizard said to Poochyena, before it breathed a large jet of flame at Deoxys, who countered with a beam of purple energy. Blastoise and Venusaur joined the fray with their Hydro Pump and Solar Beam, which combined with Charizard's flame to create a mighty explosion.

"What do we do, guys?" Mina asked. Poochyena tugged at one of Serena's socks and barked at the group, then led them around the edge of the wall, sniffing hard. About halfway around the wall, a beam of purple energy struck the wall above their heads, and the group looked up to find Deoxys advancing towards them.

"Char!" Charizard roared, before flying across the room and tackling Deoxys.

"Thanks Charizard! You keep it busy while we keep going!" Serena called, before the group continued to follow Poochyena. Suddenly, Poochyena looked up at the group and barked quietly, then stepped through the wall. The rest of the group stepped through too and broke into a run, leaving the noises of the furious battle behind them. They ran down a long, torch-lit tunnel and emerged in a large room with a small round indent in the center. Poochyena sniffed carefully at the hole, then ran over to Amy and stared up at her backpack, sniffing.

"What's the matter, Poochyena?" Lita asked.

"There must be something in my backpack that will fit in that hole," Amy said slowly, before she let out a gasp. "Of course! The GS Ball!" Amy quickly took her backpack off and pulled out the GS Ball, which she gently lowered into the indent. There was a soft click, and then the group watched in amazement as multicoloured glowing lines began snaking their way across the floor, forming brightly-coloured pictures. The group spread out, examining the pictures of the six different pokemon that were forming on the floor.

"Hey, that's Deoxys!" Serena said, staring down at the picture of the orange pokemon that they met earlier. Luna gasped as a small pink circle containing a gold crescent moon formed between Deoxys' arms.

"Deoxys has a Crescent Moon, Serena! What could that mean?" Luna said, alarmed.

"I don't think Serena's the only one who has something to worry about, Luna," Raye said. Luna looked up and gasped at the picture at Raye's feet: a brown lion-like pokemon with a cloud-like grey mane stood guard over a familiar glowing red mark: the Mars symbol

"Hey, Lita, that one kinda looks like a cross between a regular tiger and a sabretooth tiger," Mina said, pointing at the pokemon at Lita's feet: a yellow beast-like pokemon with a purple mane.

"What do you think it all means?" Lita asked, staring at the glowing green Jupiter symbol between the pokemon's legs.

"I'm guessing this is the legend that Professor Oak was telling us about," Amy said, staring down at a blue-and-purple beast pokemon, a blue Mercury symbol glowing between its legs.

"OK... but I don't see anything about our pokeballs or their keys," Mina said.

"Maybe this _is _about the keys, Mina. Maybe it's telling us where each key is," Artemis said.

"So these pokemon are guarding the keys? Great, I hope they're not all as bad-tempered as Deoxys," Mina said, staring down at a picture of a blue-and-white bird-like pokemon, an orange Venus symbol glowing between the pokemon's forelegs.

"You mean Deoxys has my key and I won't know what's in my pokeball until we get it off him? Great," Serena said grumpily.

"Don't worry, Sere. If Deoxys does have your key, then I'm sure that one way or another we'll get it off it," Darien said.

"The pokemon that has your key looks just as scary as Deoxys, Darien," Serena said, glancing at the rainbow bird pokemon with a black Earth symbol between its claws.

"Maybe the Pokedex can help us. It might be able to tell us where these pokemon are, or at least what they're called," Amy said, taking out the pokedex. She pointed it at the picture in front of her, and a second later, the pokedex said,

"_Suicune, the Aurora Pokemon. This pokemon, said to be the incarnation of the North Wind, can purify any water instantly._"

"Suicune, huh? Sounds like a nice pokemon to me," Serena said.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Serena. Just look at you," Raye said cheekily.

"Speak for yourself, Miss Beautiful-But-Bossy," Serena said, sticking her tongue out.

"So Suicune has your key, Amy... What about this one? The one that has mine?" Raye asked, ignoring Serena's comment. Amy pointed the pokedex at the image at Raye's feet.

"_Entei, the Volcano Pokemon. This pokemon, said to have been born from a volcano, spouts flames hotter than magma._"

"Entei sounds pretty scary too, Raye. Hope you're up to the challenge of getting your key off of it," Serena said, grinning. Raye stuck her tongue out at Serena and watched Amy move on to the next picture.

"_Raikou, the Thunder Pokemon. This pokemon, said to have descended on a bolt of lightning, can fire bolts of lightning at will from the cloud on its back,_" the pokedex said, aiming at the pokemon at Lita's feet.

"Raikou looks just as scary as Deoxys and Entei. Even Suicune looks kinda scary. I think the only one that doesn't look scary is the one that has my key," Mina said.

"_Latios, the Eon Pokemon. This highly intelligent pokemon can alter its appearance and take on any form it wants._"

"Wow, sounds like Latios is gonna be hard to find," Mina said ruefully.

"What about the one that has Darien's key?" Serena asked.

"_Ho-Oh, the rainbow pokemon. This pokemon glows in seven colours and is said to create a rainbow behind it as it flies._"

"Ho-Oh sounds pretty cool," Mina said. Just then a small bark made everyone look down to find Poochyena sniffing at the picture of Deoxys. It sniffed carefully at the Crescent Moon, then extended a paw and pressed down on the circle. With a soft click, the circle turned and rose out of the floor. Serena bent down and picked it up, and as she did so, more coloured lines snaked their way out from underneath it and up onto the walls, illuminating four more pictures.

"Hey-! That's Poochyena!" Amy gasped, pointing at the one above the entrance, which was clearly of a gold Poochyena.

"I guess this little guy is a lot more important than we thought," Serena said, smiling at Poochyena, who barked happily back.

"What about those other three pokemon? They must be important too," Artemis said, staring up at the other three pictures. Amy pointed the Pokedex at the one to the left of the entrance, which showed a black fox-like pokemon.

"_Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. This pokemon's tail splits from the tip as it grows,_" the Pokedex said, displaying a holographic picture of a brownish-orange version of the one on the wall.

"That one kinda looks like one of those swimming dinosaurs," Mina said, pointing at a large silver pokemon with a white armour plate on it's back.

"You mean a Plesiosaur? Yeah, it does look a little like one of them," Amy said, aiming the pokedex at the wall opposite the entrance.

"_Lapras, the Transport Pokemon. This highly intelligent pokemon is gentle and generally non-violent,_" the pokedex said. After examining the blue-and-grey version of the pokemon that the pokedex displayed, Amy moved on to the final drawing, which was of a white human-like pokemon with pale-green leaves hanging from it's waist and two blue flowers on it's head.

"_Bellossom, the Flower Pokemon. This pokemon, whose leaves deepen in colour when exposed to sunlight, is famous for its enchanting dances,_" the pokedex said, displaying a picture similar to the one on the wall, except that it was green with dark-green leaves and red flowers.

"All the pictures look different to the pokedex's versions," Raye commented, staring up at the pictures on the wall.

"What's the matter, Serena?" Luna asked. Serena was staring at the pink circle in her hand, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"This... I think I know what this is for," Serena said slowly, taking off her backpack. Reaching into a side pocket, she pulled out the round rock that Professor Oak had given her. She lowered the circle into the indent on the rock, then pressed down on the circle. With a burst of white light, the rock cracked open, revealing a small transparent-pink crescent moon with a tiny gold crescent moon inside.

"I think... This must be your key, Serena," Luna whispered, awestruck. Serena took her hot-and-pale pink pokeball from her pocket and held it near her key, both of which began to glow pink, the glow growing brighter the closer the two got. Noticing this, Serena touched the two together, the transparent pink key vanishing on contact. The pink glow faded to reveal that there was now a gold crescent moon on the top half of the pokeball, just above the button.

"I wonder what's inside," Mina whispered. Serena smiled.

"I guess there's only one way to find out, right?" she said, before tossing the ball into the air. The ball popped open, sending a ray of pink energy flowing over Serena. When the ray faded, instead of Serena, there was a pink bubble floating in mid-air. Inside the bubble was a small pink cat-like pokemon with a long tail.

"Is that... Sere?" Darien asked, shocked.

"_Mew, the New Species Pokemon. This pure-hearted pokemon is so rare that it is thought to be extinct,_" said the Pokedex.

"Serena turned into a Pokemon?" Luna gasped.


	4. The Truth

**Sparrowflyaway: Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long, my brother's being mean and blocked my internet, so I have to post this from a computer other than at my house. Anyway, here's chapter 4!**

**Raye: This is getting weird...**

**Mina: Oh, come on, Raye, this proves that we're here for a reason!**

**Sparrowflyaway: Mina, I think it's your turn to do the disclaimer.**

**Mina: Really?**

**Sparrowflyaway: Yes, really. You said that you were doing the disclaimer this time, so go ahead.**

**Mina: Sure! OK, Sparrowflyaway doesn't own Sailor Moon, or Pokemon, or Harry Potter, or the Chronicles of Narnia, or Sabrina the Teenage Witch, or-**

**Sparrowflyaway: Thanks, Mina, that'll probably do.**

**Mina: Or Disney, or Pixar, or Cadbury, or Arnotts, or Nestle, or Pedigree, or...**

**Sparrowflyaway: *sigh...***

* * *

_Whoa, what just happened?_ Serena(Mew) wondered, slowly opening her eyes to find herself inside a pink bubble. As she looked out at her friends' stunned faces, a long pink tail whipped past her face, startling her. It took her a few seconds to realise that the tail was hers. _Oh, wow! I've turned into a Pok__é__mon! So that's what our Pok__é__balls are for!_ She peered at her stubby paws for a moment, before reaching out and poking the bubble, popping it. To her surprise, she found that she was able to fly.

"This is so weird!" she cried, flying around the room. All her friends heard was a loud squeaky voice saying "Mew, mew, mew!"

"Great. We can't understand her," Raye said. Mew stopped flying around and landed on Darien's shoulder, where she settled with a cute little smile.

"So what do we do now?" Mew asked, her question going unanswered. She was just about to get angry at the others for ignoring her, when a huge cloud of smoke rushed down the tunnel and filled the room. The group threw themselves onto the ground as a stream of fire shot through the smoke, followed quickly by a loud crash from somewhere nearby. When the smoke cleared, the group could see Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur lying against the back wall, clearly exhausted. The group turned to find Deoxys standing opposite the three defeated pokémon, glaring at them and blocking the only exit. Charizard crawled out of the pile and attempted to stand, it's knees buckling. The fire pokémon growled in frustration, and to her surprise, Mew found that she could understand what it was saying.

"Dang it, this thing's tougher than it looks."

"Don't tell me you're giving up, Charizard? I thought you never gave up, I thought that was your philosophy," Venusaur said, looking surprised.

"I think I have to. Besides, you did no better than me, Venusaur."

"True. Deoxys is very strong," Venusaur mused.

"What are we going to do now, though? We can't tell the Professor that we lost, and that Deoxys gained access to the Ancient Ones," Blastoise said.

"Hey, guys, let me help!" Mew said, flying over to them. The three pokemon stared at Mew for a second, before nodding.

"Go ahead, Ancient One. We wish you the best of luck against Deoxys," Charizard said. Mew nodded, then turned to face the DNA Pokémon.

"You dare to challenge me?" Deoxys hissed.

"You're nuts if you think I'm gonna let you get away with hurting my friends, weirdo. I've taken down stronger enemies than you," Mew said coolly.

"So be it," Deoxys said, forming a glowing purple-and-yellow ball of energy between its four tentacle-like arms

"Poochyena, get the others out of here. I'll handle this," Mew said, flicking her tail and creating a protective pink bubble around herself.

"You got it, chief!" Poochyena barked, before grabbing Raye's sock and tugging her in the direction of the tunnel. The others instantly understood, and quickly left the room, Deoxys launching its attack at Mew a second later. The ball of energy exploded against Mew's protective bubble, filling the room with smoke again and popping the bubble. A beam of purple energy shot through the smoke, missing Mew by centimetres. _OK, no more Miss Nice Pok__é__mon,_ Mew thought angrily, flicking her tail and creating a ball of pink energy in front of her. _It's time to fight back. _Spotting Deoxys through the smoke, Mew made the ball of energy turn into three beams of energy, which she fired at Deoxys. The DNA pokemon was forced to change into its Speed Forme in order to escape the beams, one of which still connected with its target. When Deoxys stopped moving again, it was singed and very angry.

"You have power, this is true. But you shall never defeat me, foolish creature," Deoxys hissed, changing back into its Attack Forme.

"Bring it on, freak," Mew said, creating another bubble around itself. Deoxys waved its arms and fired another purple beam at Mew, which popped the bubble and hit its target, throwing Mew back a few metres. Mew steadied herself in mid-air, then fired a pink beam of energy at her enemy, who immediately crossed its four arms over itself to deflect the attack. Mew flew to a different part of the room, then tried again, with the same result. Just as Mew tried a third time, Deoxys fired another purple beam, the two beams colliding. Mew braced herself in mid-air, focusing on overpowering Deoxys' beam. A few seconds later, the two beams exploded, throwing both battlers backwards into the wall and knocking the wind out of Mew. Deoxys jumped to its feet and advanced towards Mew, who was gasping for breath and struggling to get back up.

"Back off, dude!" a voice cried, before a glowing ball of dark energy flew across the room and struck Deoxys, knocking the DNA Pokémon back. Mew looked around confused, then suddenly noticed the gold Poochyena beside her, nudging her with his nose.

"Hey, you alright, chief?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about the others? Are they safe?" Mew asked.

"No worries. I got them a fair ways before I came back to help you out. That was a wicked Psybeam, by the way," Poochyena said, before pushing Mew out of the way of another purple beam.

"Thanks, but it'll take more than that. This guy's gonna be tough to beat," Mew muttered, getting back into the air.

"Hey, no worries, chief. What say we take this chump down together?"

"Deal," Mew smiled, before turning to face Deoxys, who was already forming another glowing ball of energy between its four arms. "I suggest you use that same attack that you used before," Mew murmured.

"One Shadow Ball, coming up," Poochyena muttered, the two of them watching closely as Deoxys shifted the ball of energy, about to release it.

"Let's get this done!" Mew yelled, firing another Psybeam just as Deoxys released the ball of energy, the two attacks colliding in the middle of the room. The ball of energy acted like a wedge, suddenly filling the room with loose whisps of pink energy. Mew was forced back against the wall from the effort of holding the ball away with her Psybeam. On the other side of the room, Deoxys also had its back to the wall, a look of utter fury on its face and all four arms extended, pushing against Mew's attack.

"You– I shall not allow you to defeat me!" Deoxys roared, forcing the ball of purple-and-yellow energy a bit closer to Mew.

"My turn," Poochyena murmured, before ducking and weaving his way around the flying whisps of pink energy as he charged towards Deoxys. "Take this!" Poochyena howled, firing another Shadow Ball at Deoxys, which connected with the purple gem in the middle of Deoxys' chest. Deoxys' eyes widened in pain, its attack dissipating. This allowed Mew's Psybeam to reach it as well, striking it in the same place.

"It's over," Mew whispered, before both Mew and Deoxys collapsed to the floor. Poochyena ran back across the room, alarmed.

"Hey, chief, you alright?" he asked, concern written all over his furry face. After a few seconds of nudging Mew with his nose, she slowly raised her head, looking exhausted.

"Yeah, I think so... We're a good team, aren't we," Mew said, smiling weakly at Poochyena.

"We sure are, chief. Now that we've taken that chump down, I can... how do your kind say it? Inter-juice myself?" Poochyena asked.

"Introduce yourself? I thought you were called Poochyena," Mew said.

"Well... yeah, usually us pokémon get called by the name of our species, that's why we never need to inter-juice ourselves. Thing is, I always fancied the name Flash. So, I'm Flash. Nice to meet ya!"

"Nice to meet you too, Flash. I'm Serena. Well, at least, I am when I'm a human," Mew said, looking across the room, where she could see strange black whisps drifting off of Deoxys, the black parts of it fading into the same blue as the Pokedex picture. "Hey, what happened to it?" Mew asked, sitting up and staring at Deoxys.

"Not sure, chief. Maybe we should go meet up with the rest of the gang," Flash said. Mew nodded and got to her feet, finding her large feet difficult to walk on and quickly realising that her exhaustion made walking practically impossible. She then attempted to get into the air, but found she did not have enough energy to get off the ground.

"I can't, Flash, I'm too tired to go anywhere."

"No worries, I'll go get the rest of the gang and bring 'em here! Sit tight, chief! Back in a Flash!" Flash said, grinning, before darting out of the room, leaving an eerie silence behind him. Mew sat watching Deoxys cautiously, wondering how long it would be before DNA pokémon woke up.

* * *

"I know they're around here somewhere... I can smell them. I told Charizard and the others to get the humans out safely, but they could've gotten lost... heck, I think I'd be lost in this place without my nose," Flash murmured, sniffing the air. Following its nose, Flash travelled through four junctions that they had not previously explored, before finally a snippet of conversation reached his ears.

"...We're lost. Where the heck do we go from here?" Raye asked, sounding annoyed.

"If we had Poochyena with us, we'd know where to go, but it ran off somewhere. Probably to help Serena," Minako said.

"Speaking of Serena, I hope she's alright. We did leave her quite a while ago. I hate to think that anything bad has happened to her," Luna said, a note of worry in her voice.

"Aw, don't worry, Luna. She'll be alright," Lita said. Flash turned another corner and noticed the group standing in the middle of yet another junction.

"Hey, guys! Battle's over! The chief needs help, she's pretty much fainting right now," Flash barked. The group turned, the humans and their feline friends looking rather relieved to find their guide returned.

"The Ancient One took down Deoxys?" Charizard asked, incredulous.

"Well, I helped too," Flash said, shrugging. The three larger pokémon looked impressed.

"You're a tough little guy, aren't you," Venusaur said.

"Aw, shucks, Venusaur, you're embarrassing me," Flash said, smiling a little. He shook his head to clear it, then looked up at the three larger pokemon. "Anyway, we'd better get back, Serena needs our help, bad." The three larger pokemon nodded, and then the whole group followed Flash back through the maze to the Legend Room, where Mew was still sitting watching Deoxys.

"Serena! You're alright!" Luna cried. Mew jumped a little, startled to find her friends there.

"Oh, hi guys, sorry I couldn't come with Flash, I'm kinda exhausted right now," Mew said weakly.

"Um, chief, do your friends speak Pokemon? 'Cause they ain't gonna understand ya if they don't," Flash said.

"Oh. Well, at least now I know why they weren't answering me earlier. Guess I'd better figure out how to change back now, huh," Mew said, frowning. She closed her eyes and began searching her new body for some way to change back into herself. As the group watched, Serena's pokéball slowly appeared in mid-air in front of her. Mew opened her eyes and looked at the pokéball, then reached out and pressed the button. A beam of red light shot out of the button and connected with Mew, making her glow red. The pokéball then opened, releasing another ray of pink light over Mew, fading to reveal that Mew had turned back into Serena.

"Well, changing back wasn't so hard. But sheesh, Deoxys is tough," Serena murmured.

"Welcome back, Sere," Darien said, helping Serena to her feet.

"Thanks, Darien," Serena said quietly, smiling at him. Suddenly, a small cloud of purple balls of energy flew across the room and into their ears, making them all yelp in surprise.

"Don't worry, those won't hurt you," a voice said. Serena whirled around, recognising the voice instantly.

"Deoxys!" she gasped, staring at the DNA pokémon standing on the other side of the room, apparently recovered.

"I want to thank you, Ancient One. And you too, young Poochyena. You saved me," Deoxys said, changing into a Forme similar to its Attack Forme, except that this Forme had lost the spikes that the Attack Forme possessed.

"We saved you? How's that work?" Flash asked.

"And how can we understand Pokémon all of a sudden?" Serena added.

"That energy I placed in your ears was special. It allows you understand what we Pokemon say. As for how you saved me, that is rather an odd story. You see, some time ago, I was standing guard over this room when I sensed that there were humans in the mountain. Suspecting that it was you six, I went to the place where the humans were, and instead found only three humans. Those three were commanding three Mightyena, two Golbat and a Crobat," Deoxys began. Amy, curious, pulled out her pokédex.

"_Golbat, the Bat Pok__é__mon. This pok__é__mon uses its sharp fangs to drain its opponents energy, even to the point where Golbat can no longer fly,_" the pokédex said, displaying an image of a blue bat-like pokémon with two purple wings and a large, open mouth.

"Wow, that thing sounds nasty," Serena murmured.

"_Crobat, the Bat Pok__é__mon. This pok__é__mon's four wings give it the ability to fly all day without resting, and allow it to sneak up silently on its prey,_" the pokédex said, this time displaying an image of a purple bat-like pokemon with four wings, the top two of which were a blue-green colour.

"Those humans and their pokémon overpowered me, and then the human who was commanding the Crobat – I assume that human was the leader of the three - threw a strange pokéball at me. I attempted to escape the pokéball, but found myself unable to resist the darkness inside the ball. Ever since then, I had been trapped by the darkness inside me, unable to stop myself from attacking anyone who approached my mountain. My apologies to all of you, my friends," Deoxys said.

"Sounds like you've had a rough time. Glad we could help, Deoxys!" Serena smiled.

"What did those humans look like?" Amy asked.

"They were all dressed in dark clothing and matching hats, with a red shape on the front of their shirts. The symbol looked rather like your letter R. The humans with the two Golbat had dark brown hair, and the other had purple hair that stood up in two large spiky pieces from the back of the human's hat," Deoxys said slowly, thinking hard.

"I've seen those humans before!" Flash said, sounding surprised.

"Where was that?" Artemis asked.

"They come and capture a few of my old pack now and then. They took my three brothers away one time, too. Not that I'm all that sad about it. My bros hated me 'cause I had gold fur instead of that boring grey like everyone else. The purple-haired one was the one who took my three brothers. She ain't a nice human like you guys, that's for sure," Flash said.

"The leader is a girl?" Amy asked.

"Indeed she is, but all of that is in the past now. I see that you have discovered the Legend. Allow me to explain it for you. The Legendary Pokemon shown here each possess a Key, which will allow you to unlock your pokéballs and transform into Pokémon. But there is one part of this room that has not yet been unlocked, and for that you will require my assistance," Deoxys said, walking over to the glowing pictures on the ground and staring down at its picture counterpart. It changed into its Attack Forme, and then fired a purple Psybeam into the hole where the pink circle had been. A few seconds later, four more coloured lines snaked their way out of the hole and onto the walls, creating a small glowing rectangle under each of the four pokémon. The glowing rectangles pulsed for a moment, then slid out from the wall, revealing small drawers. Serena walked over to the one beneath Poochyena's picture and reached inside, pulling out a gold pokéball with a white claw-shape above the button.

"That's so pretty!" Mina exclaimed, she and the others gathering around Serena to have a look at the ball.

"These pokéballs are for the four friends. Poochyena, you are one of those four," Deoxys said.

"Well of course! The gang'd be lost without me!" Flash smiled.

"Literally," Lita added.

"As you can see, the four friends consist of a Gold Poochyena, a Silver Lapras, a Black Vulpix and a White Bellossom, and each of them has a special name known only to themselves and those they choose to share it with. Names other than the pokémon's kind are quite unheard of in this world, so the four friends will likely be outcasts, because of both their name and their difference in colour to the rest of their kind," Deoxys explained.

"Too right. The pack I used to belong to can hardly be said to have welcomed me with open paws," Flash said ruefully.

"These pokéballs will ensure the loyalty of the four friends. Unless their loyalty to your cause is true, their pokéball will not hold them. Also, the friend must choose to enter the pokéball. You must not force them to join your team," Deoxys added.

"Well then, I guess the choice is yours, Flash," Serena said, placing the gold pokéball in front of the gold Bite Pokémon.

"I'm all for ya, chief!" Flash smiled, before nudging the button with its paw. A beam of red light shot out of the button, making it glow red, before the pokéball opened and Flash disappeared inside. Serena picked up the ball and smiled at it, then placed it inside her backpack, which had reappeared on her back after Serena had changed back into herself.

"Oh, hey, I wonder what the other three pokéballs look like," Mina said, running over to the wall with the Silver Lapras on it. She reached into the drawer there and pulled out a silver pokéball with a picture of a blue drop of water above the button. Raye walked over to the wall with the Black Vulpix on it, pulling out a shiny black pokéball with a red flame above the button. And finally, Amy reached into the drawer under the picture of the White Bellossom, taking out a white pokéball with a picture of a green leaf above the button. They carefully tucked the pokéballs into their backpacks, watching as the four drawers slid closed again.

"We'd better head back and tell the Professor what we've learned," Blastoise said. The rest of the group nodded and turned to Deoxys, feeling a little sad to leave their new friend behind.

"Take care, my friends. I wish you the best of luck stopping those humans from turning other pokémon against their nature," Deoxys said.

"Thanks, Deoxys! See you around!" the humans called, before turning away and walking towards the passageway that would lead them out. They had not taken five steps before there was a flash of black light in front of them, and a small green-and-black fairy-like pokémon appeared, looking gleeful.

"Hello there, I'm glad I caught you before you all ran away," the pokémon giggled.

"What are you doing here, Celebi?" Deoxys asked.

"_Celebi, the Time Travel Pok__é__mon. This pok__é__mon wanders across time and generally only appears during peaceful times,_" the pokédex said, displaying a picture of a green-and-white Celebi.

"Yup yup! It sure looks mighty peaceful here to me! So let's have some fun and change that, shall we?" Celebi said, pointing at the group. A glowing portal appeared under the six humans and their feline friends, enveloping them in white light.

"Celebi, what are you doing?" Deoxys asked, alarmed.

"Having fun, silly!" Celebi giggled, smiling. The five pokémon watched as the light grew brighter and brighter, before the portal, along with all of those standing on it, disappeared. Celebi giggled happily and turned to the others, its smile fading at the shock and anger on their faces. "Well, I can see you're no fun. See ya, party poopers!" it smiled, before disappearing.

"This is not good at all... we need to find the Ancient Ones, and we need to do it fast," Deoxys said, concern written all over its face as it changed to its Speed Forme.


	5. The Vulpix

**Sparrowflyaway: Chapter 5! Let's see what happens next!**

**Raye: Great. This keeps getting better and better. Now we're all split up, and goodness knows when we'll find each other again.**

**Serena: Oh, Raye, don't be such a downer. We might have a better chance of finding all the Keys and the Friends this way!**

**Raye: Or we could be wandering around here for weeks until we're all eaten by Mightyena.**

**Flash: Come on, let's just quit with the fretting and get with the going.**

**Sparrowflyaway: Now that's a good idea! Raye, would you like to do the disclaimer?**

**Raye: Fine. Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon, Pokémon, or any of the other dozens of things that Mina mentioned last time.**

* * *

Serena slowly opened her eyes, finding herself lying in a large grassy area. The first thing she noticed as she sat up was how hot it was. Looking around, she quickly found the reason for this: a large, active and a-little-too-close-for-comfort volcano was spewing out smoke, thin streams of lava trickling down the sides. Suddenly something clicked in her mind, and she got to her feet, looking around frantically.

"Darien? Luna? Amy? Mina? Raye! Lita! Where is everybody?" she called, looking around.

"Serena? Is that you?" a familiar voice called back rather faintly.

"Artemis? Where are you?" Serena called, running in the direction of his voice, passing a few bushes and the occasional tree.

"Up here," Artemis replied wearily. Serena looked up at a nearby tree to see Mina's white Guardian hanging by his tail, which was caught in the branches. Serena carefully climbed the tree and freed Artemis, carrying him carefully back down. "Thanks, Serena, that was starting to hurt," Artemis said as Serena placed him gently on the ground.

"Do you have any idea where everyone else is, Artemis?" Serena asked, sitting down beside him. Artemis shook his head sadly.

"No, I haven't seen anyone besides you," he said. Just then, another familiar voice reached their ears.

"Hey, Meatball Head! Where'd you get to? Guys, this isn't funny!"

"Raye! Over here!" Serena called. A minute later, Raye came into view, looking a little worried.

"There you are! Where's everyone else?" Raye asked.

"We... We don't know, Raye. They could be anywhere right now," Serena said sadly. Raye stared at them in shock, absorbing the information. Finally Artemis said,

"Let's see if Flash can smell any of the others around here. If it can, then we'll go find them; if not, then we'll decide what to do from there." Serena nodded and fished into her backpack, pulling out the Gold Pokéball. She pressed the button, and Flash popped out in a burst of white light.

"Hiya, chief!" he said, grinning.

"Hey, Flash. Do you think you could find the others in our group?" Serena asked. Flash frowned.

"Well, sure I can, if they're around here, but how'd you guys get split up?"

"Celebi. It showed up just as we were leaving Deoxys, and it made this big glowing circle underneath us. Then the light got brighter, and then I guess I got knocked out or something, 'cause I woke up here. I found Raye and Artemis, -"

"More like I found you, Meatball Head," Raye cut in.

"- But we can't find any of the others," Serena finished, poking her tongue out at Raye.

"Guess we need my nose then, huh?" Flash said, before pointing his nose in the air and sniffing carefully. "Hmmmm... I can't seem to pick up any of the others anywhere around here. Just a bunch of Fire-types."

"Fire types... hmmmm... Isn't Entei a Fire-type?" Artemis asked.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Raye said.

"Oh, yeah! Entei is supposed to have your Key, isn't it, Raye," Serena said.

"You're such a Meatball Head, Serena," Raye said.

"I hate to tell you this, guys, but I don't know what an Entei smells like, so I can't say for sure if it's around here or not," Flash said.

"Darn, so much for that idea," Serena said.

"I doubt it'll be that easy to find Entei, Serena," Raye said.

"Y'know... One of the other Friends is supposed to be a Vulpix, right?" Flash asked.

"Yeah," Serena said, wondering why Flash brought up the Friends.

"Vulpix are Fire-types, so we might find the second Friend somewhere around here," Flash said.

"Yeah, awesome! How many Vulpix are around here?" Serena asked.

"W-ell... it's hard to tell for sure, but... I reckon there's about... 40? Or something like that? There's a few Ninetales with 'em, too," Flash said, sniffing hard.

"Ninetales? What are they?" Serena asked.

"They're really pretty pokémon that Vulpix evolve into, and ya best not touch any of a Ninetales' tails, or you'll have a thousand-year curse put on ya," Flash said.

"A thousand years? I don't wanna be cursed for a thousand years!" Serena wailed.

"It should still be easy to spot a Black Vulpix in all of those," Raye said, rolling her eyes.

"I can smell a bunch of Vulpix and Ninetales over that way, and some of 'em smell a bit different," Flash said, pointing to the left with his paw. Serena instantly stopped wailing and brightened.

"Right! Let's go find that Vulpix!" she said, punching the air triumphantly.

* * *

Some distance away, an orange Vulpix sitting on a small rock detected the scent of the humans, and quickly left the rock, rejoining its nearby troop. Winding its way through a number of other orange Vulpix, several yellow Vulpix and a few larger light-brown fox pokémon, the orange Vulpix found the pokémon it was searching for.

"I smell humans, Ninetales," it said, approaching the large silvery-white fox pokémon with blue tips on each of its nine tails.

"Which are they?" the white Ninetales asked, its eyes narrowing.

"I'm not sure, I couldn't tell. They have a Poochyena with them, and something else I've never smelt before. What should we do?" the small Vulpix asked. The white Ninetales thought for a moment, then looked around at the waiting Vulpix and Ninetales.

"All of you, go. Bring them here. We shall assess their allegiance and determine our action from there," the white Ninetales said. The surrounding troop nodded and left, the white Ninetales sticking out a paw on one side of the rock. "Not you, little one."

"But mama, I wanna go too! You _promised_ I could go next time one of the sentries smelt something!" the one remaining Vulpix said, emerging from behind the rock, its black fur sparkling in the sunlight.

"This is different, little one. These are humans. You know very well that any humans who are not on our side are dangerous," Ninetales said. The Black Vulpix looked at its feet sadly.

"I know, mama. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, darling. You know I just want to take care of you, so you can be the best leader for our troop as you can once I step down."

"I wish I didn't have to be leader. The others don't think I'll be any good at leading them."

"Don't worry about them. In time they'll see just how wonderful a leader I know you can be," Ninetales said warmly.

"I'll never get to be a good leader if I never get to go anywhere," Vulpix said sulkily.

"Now, Vulpix. You know your father wouldn't like you being so negative," Ninetales said sternly.

"I don't know what papa would think. He's gone, and I mightn't get to see him again because of those stinkin' humans," Vulpix said gloomily. Ninetales bent down and picked Vulpix up in its mouth, then walked over to the other side of the rock to a large bush, where it pushed some of the branches out of the way and revealed a large leaf-filled hole underneath. Ninetales deposited Vulpix into the hole, then sighed.

"You'll see him again someday, darling, I know it. It's your naptime now, so try to get some sleep. Sweet dreams," Ninetales said, before pushing the branches back to hide the hole. Vulpix lay down in the semi-darkness and sighed.

"I miss you, papa."

* * *

Serena, Raye and Artemis followed Flash as the Bite pokémon slowly made his way across the dry plain, sniffing carefully. Suddenly he froze, sniffing.

"Hold up, gang, there's something weird going on," Flash said, glancing around. As the four of them watched, several fox-like pokémon appeared in the distance, approaching them quickly. "Um, I suggest we run," Flash said, before whirling around and skidding to a stop as he spotted more fox pokémon approaching from that side. The group quickly realised that they were surrounded, and frowned in worry.

"Guess I'd better turn into Mew now," Serena said, taking out her pokéball.

"Put that away right now, Human," one of the smaller fox pokemon said, skidding to a stop and glaring at them, the other fox pokemon doing the same. Serena, Raye, Artemis and Flash looked around at the pokemon, noticing that several of the smaller ones, the Vulpix, were yellow instead of orange, like the pokédex picture.

"What's the problem, Vulpix?" Flash asked the Vulpix who had spoken.

"Our leader has requested for us to take you to her. Put that ball away right now, or I'll take it away," the Vulpix ordered, glaring at Serena, who nervously returned the ball to her pocket.

"What if we don't want to go?" Artemis asked.

"Then we shall have to use force," one of the larger fox pokemon said, baring its teeth.

"Alright, alright, cool your jets, Ninetales. Sheesh!" Flash said.

"That's a Ninetales?" Serena asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, I am a Ninetales, what does it matter to you, Human?" the Ninetales asked.

"Nothing! I just... you're a lot prettier than I could have imagined," Serena said. The Ninetales looked rather pleased at that.

"Come," one of the Vulpix said, before half of the fox pokémon turned, keeping a close eye on their prisoners as they led them away from the volcano.

* * *

"Wow... That's your leader?" Raye asked as the group approached the rock on which a tall white Ninetales was seated.

"She's so beautiful!" Serena murmured.

"Why thank you, Human," the White Ninetales said, smiling.

"Why did you want us to come here, Ninetales?" Flash asked.

"You are Human. Many Humans who have come here are not to be trusted. They capture pokémon and use them as slaves against other pokémon. Therefore I must test your allegiance," Ninetales said.

"This one has a pokéball, Ninetales!" one of the Vulpix said, pointing its paw at Serena. Ninetales glared at Serena suspisciously.

"Take it out and place it on the ground," Ninetales ordered. Serena nervously took out her pink pokéball and slowly placed it on the ground in front of Ninetales, keeping her eyes on the pokémon's face. "Back," Ninetales said shortly, and Serena scrambled back from the rock. Ninetales stepped off the rock and walked around the pokéball, examining it. Eventually, Ninetales looked up.

"You," it said, looking at Raye. "Do you have one as well?" Raye nodded. "Here," Ninetales said, touching the ground beside Serena's pokéball with its paw. Raye stepped forward and placed her pokeball on that spot, then stepped back, watching Ninetales curiously as it walked around the two pokéballs again, examining them. Eventually it looked up.

"Are these your only pokéballs?" Ninetales asked. Serena and Raye shook their heads and stepped forward again, placing the Gold Claw Pokéball and the Black Flame Pokéball on the ground with their own. Ninetales examined those two carefully as well.

"And what of those two?" it asked, looking at Artemis and Flash.

"I came here from the same world as the girls. I don't have a pokéball, as you can see. I don't have anywhere to keep it," Artemis said.

"That is not what concerns me. Only Humans with pokéballs concern me," Ninetales said, looking at Artemis for a moment before turning to Flash. "And you?"

"I made friends with the chief and her friends when they saved me from my old pack," Flash said.

"This one smells of you. Why is that?" Ninetales asked Flash, pointing at the Gold Claw pokéball.

"That's the one I go into when I'm not needed," Flash said.

"You are a prisoner?"

"No! I chose to go in that ball. Deoxys told us that it wouldn't hold me at all if I didn't want to be in it," Flash said. Ninetales nodded slowly, then looked at the pokéballs again.

"Three have a mark, and the other does not. Why is this?"

"Well, um... the gold and black ones are for very special pokémon," Serena said.

"Like me!" Flash said, smiling.

"The other two are mine and Raye's: the pink one's mine and the red-and-purple one is Raye's. The reason Raye's doesn't have a mark is because I've already found my Key, but Raye here hasn't yet," Serena said.

"I suspected as much," Ninetales said slowly as it climbed back onto its rock. Then to the group's surprise, Ninetales bowed.

"What...?" the four wondered.

"Welcome, Ancient Ones. Long have we awaited your arrival," Ninetales said, smiling. It then looked at the Vulpix and Ninetales surrounding them. "Hail and welcome to the Ancient Ones of the Moon and Mars!" Ninetales shouted.

"Hail and welcome to the Ancient Ones!" the Vulpix and Ninetales repeated happily. Serena and Raye looked at each other, both feeling a little uncomfortable about being greeted in such a way.

"You may take your pokéballs back now. I am satisfied that you are of true allegiance. What are your names, Ancient Ones?" Ninetales asked.

"I'm Serena, and this is Raye, Artemis, and-"

"Poochyena," Ninetales finished for her.

"Actually, Ninetales, my name's Flash," Flash said.

"Interesting. A pokémon with a Name. I know of only one other such as this," Ninetales said.

"Really?" Serena asked. Ninetales nodded and turned around.

"Vulpix," it called behind the rock.

"Yes, mama? You called me?" a voice asked.

"We have guests," Ninetales said. A few moments later, a small Vulpix with shiny black fur peered around the rock at the group. The four newcomers stared at the Vulpix, realising the same thing: they had found another of the four Friends.

"Vulpix, these are-"

"The Ancient Ones, I know. I heard you hailing them," Vulpix said.

"This is my daughter," Ninetales told the group.

"Does she have a Name too?" Flash asked.

"Indeed she does, but she refuses to reveal it any except those she trusts completely. Therefore, Vulpix, you shall travel with the Ancient Ones for a time and learn to trust them," Ninetales said.

"Finally! Some adventure!" Vulpix said excitedly.

"Now, onto more important matters. You seek the Fire Key, do you not?" Ninetales asked, looking at Raye.

"If that's my Key, then yeah," Raye said.

"I know of its location," Ninetales told them.

"You know where Entei is?" Raye gasped.

"Indeed. It is there," Ninetales said, raising a forepaw and pointing at something behind them. The group turned, their nerves mounting again as they saw that their next destination was to be the large volcano. "That is Mt Rage. Entei lives at its peak. It is a dangerous trek, and Entei is certainly not to be taken lightly. Therefore I shall have my five finest warriors to accompany you to the top," Ninetales said.

"You don't have to do that for us, Ninetales, really. I can turn into a pokémon, and we'll have Flash and your daughter with us as well," Serena said.

"All the same, I would prefer it if they accompanied you. You may require their assistance," Ninetales said.

"I think we should take Ninetales' advice, Serena, remember how easily Deoxys defeated Charizard, Blastoise _and_ Venusaur, and still had enough left in it to almost wipe you out too?" Artemis asked.

"This guy's got a point, Chief. What do you say, shall we take some backup with us just in case?" Flash asked.

"I suppose it's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them, huh," Serena said thoughtfully.

"Then it's settled. At the new dawn, the Ancient Ones and their friends will depart for Mt Rage, and my daughter and five strong Ninetales shall accompany them. Let us look forward to a new day and a shifting of power!" Ninetales declared, to cheers from the surrounding troop of Vulpix and Ninetales.


End file.
